HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1999-08-25, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1999.
Design team makes it work
Saying her piece
Carali McCall, daughter of Murray and Sherry McCall of
Walton, was named runner-up in the Queen of the Furrow
competition for the Huron County Plowing Match held at
the farm of Amy and Bill Fotheringham of Tuckersmith
Twp., Aug. 20.
A piece of working art Celebrating 25 gears of producing original Canadian theatre,
The design team for Death of a Hired Man was challenged to create a threshing machine that
not only fit the stage, but actually worked Clockwise from top left: Glenn Davidson, Katherine
Lilley, Andrew Cull, Jenn Jansen, Amy Cummings, David James.
the Blyth festival proudly presents a dynamic tribute to a
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
The star of Paul Thompson's col
lective Death of a Hired Man is
already attracting a good deal of
attention, though the play isn't set to
open until September at Blyth.
Sitting pretty and ready to go. the
replicated threshing machine has
been bringing them into the Garage
technical shops since work began.
“In this business you don’t often get
people coming into the shop to visit.
That’s not the case since this started
to take shape. It's nice for them to
get some notice.”
Promising that the model will
“make an entrance" when it appears
on stage, Davidson says the biggest
challenge for the crew was creating
something that didn't just look the
part but worked. “This is going to be
scrutinized by people who know.
Luckily the production manager
here belongs to the Ontario Thresher
Association so I didn’t hat'e to con
cern myself so much.”
While the main body of the
machine is constructed of plywood
the working metal parts were sal
vaged off a thresher purchased by
the theatre. When they initially went
to look at the thresher, Davidson
was first struck by the size. “We
already had the overall shape, but
the size was going to have to fit.”
With the thresher making its stage
entrance backwards so the blower is
downstage, the crew had to tape out
on the shop floor the dimensions of
the set, then play with the model to
make sure it would work. “Paul
wanted it to be an overpowering
presence, but we only had a 13 foot
gnd. The size is predetermined by
the fact we needed to leave room for
actors. In the end it’s a struggle
between what you like to have and
what you can.”
On top of that is Davidson’s per
sonal interpretation. “I wanted it to
be a grasshopper, because that’s
what I think it looks like.”
To achieve this, he says, they
essentially “used the segmentation
of a grasshopper and extrapolated it
onto the body.”
Using a threshing machine at the
Blyth fairgrounds as a “template”
Davidson says the crew wanted to
achieve a finish that looked worn,
but not too worn. “This takes place
at the end of the threshing era. So
now we have to get the rust out,” he
says of the well-aged metalpieces.
Creating an authentic-looking,
working model is definitely a chal
lenge even for the talented techni
cians at Blyth. “The crew complains
because it’s a pain when things actu
ally have to run. But really they all
love it because you don’t get to
work on this type of thing too
often,” says Davidson.
With the interior of Memorial
Hall being transformed into a bam,
Davidson says the design crew faces
another challenge with this produc
tion, that, of “covering the entire
space in scenery.”
Using styrofoam and plywood
boxes the theatre is bamboards and
beams from floor to mow. An exten
sion at the front of the stage increas
es space, while the balcony is trans
formed into the mow.
Adding to the authenticity will be
the noise of the threshing machine
when running and real straw and
grain, which will actually be blown
into the granary.
But while capturing the look, the
sounds and the feeling of the era
was important, the production
remains nonetheless theatrical.
“Realism in theatre doesn’t mean
you have to put the real thing on
stage. Sometimes the real thing can
be dead boring. What you really
want is its essence,” says Davidson.
heroic era oi farming. from the creator oi the farm Show -
Death of the Hired Jiao
a collective, conceived
and directed
by
Paul thompson
exciting
H innovative piece of wdH^p-
fath of the Hired hfan y/ivtdOf captures the
intensity of a full barn-threshing experience, The
stalwart threshing gang confronts intense he^^M|
unabating noise as they strain to win the battbifagl
and the elements. \ %s:
Rediscover Memorial Hall as it is transformed into t
of a barn complete with all the sights, squqds and J
phere reminiscent of the 1950’s in rural J^ario,^'
De Jong resigns from committee
After an attempt to have himselt
removed from Tuckersmith Twp.’s
restructuring committee failed,
Deputy-Reeve Bill DeJong
resigned.
The conflict arose when DeJong
said he was criticized by Tucker
smith Reeve Bob Broadfoot for
expressing his objection to an
amalgamation with Brussels and
Grey Twp.
DeJong said he felt his township
had nothing in common with Brus
sels and Grey and that they should
look at other areas if more munici
palities were needed.
Stating he didn’t need the hassle
from the reeve, DeJong said, “It
was my own opinion even if coun
cil didn’t agree with me. I can't
represent the community if I can't
voice my opinion.”
A supporter of Tuckersmith join
ing a group of six to the west,
DeJong said he is also unhappy that
the people in southern Tuckersmith
will have to travel to Seaforth for
its municipal office.
()e/e6ra/rn</ ffnn/oersary c'Secfson.
FALL SPECIAL EVENTS
Moose tag draw results available
The Ministry of Natural
Resources is notifying applicants
that the results of the adult moose
validation tag draw are now
available by calling l-800-275-
6657 (l-800-222-9784 for service
in French). Tags have been mailed
to successful applicants.
Hunters who were successful in
the draw, but who have not
received their validation tags by
Aug. 27 should contact their local
MNR office.
The toll-tree line operates 24-
hours a day until Dec. 31. By
calling this number, hunters can
find out if they obtained a tag.
Hunters should have their Outdoors
Card ready when they call.
This year 103,494 hunters
applied to the draw and 17,455
adult moose validation tags were
issued. There were 5,877 groups of
hunters (almost 65 per cent) that
were successful in the draw
compared to 5,690 last year.
1st Annual Celebrity Golf Tournament
Friday, September 17, 1999
Seaforth Golf & Country Club - Steak Barbeque incl.
Wieringerwaard - Dutch Folk Dancing
direct from the Netherlands
Wednesday, September 22,1999 • 8 pjn.
Also this fol-
Bod by popular demand - Don Horton & Catherine McKinnon - October 23rd
Plus a student production - Dufflebog Theatre's Beauty and the Beast and MocBeth -
October 13th -15th -2 performances daBy